A Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman caught a child who fell out of the stands at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The scary scene happened following a 30-27 Chiefs win against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday as the Chiefs were walking off the field.
While Chiefs players like Carson Steele and Travis Kelce were making their way into the players’ tunnel, several young fans were leaning over the railing trying to get their attention.
However, one young fan in a Nick Bolton jersey was being held back by a security guard who was wearing a “Bank of America Stadium” jacket. When the security guard turned away, the young fan, likely around 10-12 years old, fell head-first through a gap in the railing toward the ground and other equipment.
It was at that point that defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton saw the child falling and lunged forward to prevent him from landing on his head after the approximate 10-foot fall.
“Go back to your seats!” the security guard yelled as the child was being helped up. “Everybody go back to your seats, this kid just fell!”
As the security guard once again had his back turned, the boy was helped back into the stands by Wharton while fans yelled to the security personnel to help him.
‘I kinda grabbed him right by the back.’
Wharton offered his perspective of the incident the following Tuesday on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
In a clip uploaded to X, McAfee asked the defensive tackle what, if anything, he was thinking at the time of the ordeal.
“Did you not think? Was it just natural reaction?” the host began.
“Well, I’d say it was natural reaction,” Wharton replied. “Usually, when I leave a game [I] try to throw my gloves in the crowd. And I think I heard my name a little bit. And when I heard my name, I seen [the boy] coming down.”
It was apparently a bad day for security at the stadium, as Wharton then pointed out there were more guards who didn’t seem to realize what he was doing.
“They were looking at us. But, I just had to kinda, like, push [the boy] into the stands a little bit to make sure he didn’t hit too hard.”
Host McAfee then comically asked the player what kind of catch he made when rescuing the child.
“So what was it? Was it a one-handed grab, snag of what, like, his shirt, his shoulder? How did you go about it, honestly?”
“I kinda grabbed him right by the back,” Wharton explained, grabbing the back of his own shirt, near the collar.
The 26-year-old added that he guided the child toward the stands on the ground level to make sure he didn’t hit floor.
Wharton said he is now hoping to find the unidentified child and have him attend another Chiefs game.
“I would like to reach out to him, get him out to the game, and, you know, get [to] be able to reflect with him a little bit more if I could.”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Fearless, Kansas city chiefs, Nfl, Football, Sports
